Leprechaun Power Bands March 18, 2006

Pattern: Irish Hiking Wristwarmers
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed in green, 1 ball
Needles: Sizes 7 & 8 Boye 29″ circulars
Began: 3/15/06
Completed: 3/18/06-ish (second one still needs seaming)

I was so excited about knitting something flat for a change that I forgot to leave enough time for seaming these up. So no, I did not finish in time to wear them on the day.

It was a fun knit, but my first test wear was very scratchy indeed. Once the pair is finished I’ll try to soften them up with a washing.

I got a jolt this morning when I looked at the calendar and realized there are only two weeks left in March. I better jump to it if I want to have something to show for the Sock a Month Knitalong. I know better than to start a new pair at this late date, so out came the beleaguered Dancing socks.

When I last left this sock (January? December?) the heel flap had just been completed. Today I picked up gusset stitches and began heel decreases. And this using my new Brittany Birch dpns! I caught a deal on eBay last month, and this is the first time I’ve got to use them. *sigh* I do love Brittany Birch.

Knitting for the Green March 16, 2006

After over a week without any knitting, I figured the best way to jolt my enthusiasm was to bring out some special yarn. Now, special is a relative term. To many, it might mean Manos, Lorna’s Laces or Socks That Rock. Alas, I’ve never been even in the same room as any of those, so for me ‘special’ pretty much applies to anything that didn’t come from Walmart or Big Lots. Enter, Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed:

This is from one of my first splurges after discovering the wonders of online yarn shopping. I also have a sweater’s worth of orange Aran Tweed in the stash, so this project will double as a test drive to determine what pattern that may be suitable for. The pattern used here is the wristwarmer variation on the popular Irish Hiking Scarf. The original plan had been to knit the scarf, but then the weather turned unseasonably warm. By the time it looked like St. Patrick’s Day might be cold after all, there weren’t too many knitting days left for a full scarf.

So far I’m really enjoying the wristwarmers. Cables are always fun, and I’ve been desperate to knit something flat for a change. The yarn is tweedier than I expected with frequent bits of light blue, red, orange and black. My asthma reappeared almost the instant I began knitting with this yarn, but it’s not too bad. I’ve come to expect it with wool.

2004-2005 FOs: Wristwarmers January 20, 2006

Part three in the series recapping 2004 & 2005 projects.